Legendary climbers Lou and Jim Whittaker turn 80
Walking hill in Arbor Heights led to their passion, they say
By DAVID ANDRIESEN
P-I REPORTER
The hill that started it all is in the Arbor Heights neighborhood in West Seattle.
Each day, young twins Lou and Jim Whittaker made their way down that hill between their home and Fauntleroy School, where they went to grade school, or Lincoln Park, where they paddled around Puget Sound in canoes and rafts they cobbled together. Each trip home meant a hike up the hill.
"We were up and down that hill all the time, so maybe that's where it all began," Jim Whittaker said. "That's how we came to be in such good shape."
Had they grown up in the flatlands, maybe the Whittakers would have become something other than famous mountaineers. But climbing up and down hills became the focus of their lives, and they wouldn't have it any other way.
"It's been a good life," Jim Whittaker said. "We've been lucky, and we've had a lot of fun. It's been a great adventure."
Tuesday night at the Space Needle, nearly 300 people -- including friends and family, fellow climbers and the doctors who have replaced all four of their knees -- turned out to celebrate the 80th birthday of Seattle's most famous outdoorsmen.
The 605-foot landmark must look like little more than a speed bump to the Whittakers, who have spent much of their lives at heights, both literal and figurative, most of us will never see.
Jim Whittaker will forever be known as the first American to reach the summit of the world's highest peak, Mount Everest, in 1963. Lou is the king of Mount Rainier, having reached that peak a record 250 times and for 40 years running a guide service that has gotten thousands to the top.
It started with treks around West Seattle, and then hiking with the Boy Scouts.
At 16, they made their first major climb, up Mount Olympus. They climbed down to find Seattle in the midst of a celebration -- World War II had ended that day.
The Whittakers earned degrees at Seattle University and were drafted into the Army in 1952 during the Korean War. They served with the mountain troops and taught special forces soldiers and green berets to ski and mountaineer.
When they returned home, Jim went to work for a little company called Recreational Equipment Inc., and went on to serve as CEO of the company, now an industry giant. Lou started his own equipment store, Whittaker's Chalet, in Tacoma.
"People who came in kept asking, 'Do you know anyone who can take us up the mountain, up to Rainier?' " Lou said. "So I figured you could make a living with a guide service."
In 1968, Lou founded Rainier Mountaineering, which employs 50 guides and annually receives half the passes issued by the park service to summit Rainier.
He splits time between Sun Valley, Idaho, and Ashford, where he runs a small hotel. He spent the day before his 80th birthday pouring concrete for an addition to the hotel.
"Every day is a gift," said Lou, who led the first U.S. team to climb the north face of Everest. "Every damn day."
Jim Whittaker earned his place in history on May 1, 1963, when, his oxygen having run out, he reached the 29,028-foot summit of Everest with the help of sherpa Nawang Gombu. He planted a U.S. flag at the top.
Whittaker was given a parade in Seattle and was awarded the Hubbard Medal by President John Kennedy.
Two years later, Kennedy's brother, Sen. Robert Kennedy, visited the Northwest and expressed interest in climbing Mount Kennedy, an unconquered peak in Canada that had been named after his late brother.
"I said, 'Has he ever climbed before?' No. 'Does he know this peak has never been climbed before?' Yes, but he still wants to go," Jim said.
"We stopped 50 feet below the summit and he walked up and became the first human being to stand there.
"That was a wonderful experience. It was one of those times when the tears freeze on the front of your parka. He was in better shape than some of the guys I had on Everest. I couldn't believe it."
Jim Whittaker and Kennedy became close friends and visited each other often, going on climbing, skiing and rafting trips.
Jim was head of Kennedy's campaign in Washington in 1968 when Kennedy was assassinated; he was one of the pallbearers at Kennedy's funeral.
"I'm telling you, he would have changed the planet," Whittaker said of Kennedy. "That was a very tough time."
In 1978, Jim Whittaker promised himself that if his team was successful in becoming the first group of Americans to reach the peak of K2, the world's second-highest peak, he would buy a sailboat.
They did complete the climb, considered even tougher than Everest, and Whittaker's second sporting passion began.
In 1996, he and his wife, Diane Roberts, took their two sons, ages 11 and 13, out of school and set out in a 53-foot sailboat called the Impossible. They stayed on the boat for four years, traveling 20,000 miles and spending extended time in Fiji and Australia.
"The plan was to 'go south until the butter melts,' and then turn west," he said. "We were going to go around the world, but it was so damned nice in the South Pacific.
"People said, 'Aren't you afraid of pirates?' I said, 'Have you been in a middle school these days? This is safer.' "
Although he'll always be known for his Everest achievement, Jim Whittaker said that he's equally proud of the "Peace Climb" he led in 1990.
He assembled a team of 20 men and women from the U.S., China and the Soviet Union to climb Everest and haul two tons of garbage off the mountain. From the base camp, they called the leaders of all three nations before going to the top.
"We stood up there, arms linked together, showing what can be done through friendship and cooperation," Whittaker said.
"We were representing the countries that had the ability to destroy the world, but showing what we could do together."
The Whittaker twins continue to hike, ski and climb, and have no plans to slow down -- after all, both their parents lived into their 90s.
"People ask me the secret of my longevity, and I think a lot of it is just the nature of the Northwest," Lou said. "There's so much to do here. If you can go out and do a little hiking, just take your kids and put in three or four miles a week, you'll be better off."
Jim Whittaker fears that the younger generations are losing touch with nature, and is part of a group near his home in Port Townsend that wants to make sure every child gets to experience time on the water. The group's motto: "No child left inside."
"We've been programmed for thousands of years to walk the forests and be in nature," Jim Whittaker said. "It's only the last couple hundred years that we've gotten caught up in this technology and living inside of walls and going down trails in vehicles."
That's never been the Whittaker twins' style. And after 80 years, it doesn't look like that's ever going to change.
P-I reporter David Andriesen can be reached at 206-448-8061 or davidandriesen@seattlepi.com.
